The Mystery of the Stolen Shoes
by kawaii-firestar
Summary: Tenten has lost her shoes and she desperately needs them for basketball! With only one choice left, she calls on Sakura Haruno, the school's best detective!


**kawaii-firestar- Hi! This is a pathetic fanfic that I had to write for school. It's part mystery I guess. Anyway, I said that it would be 2-3 chapters but it's just gonna be this one chapter. So I hope you enjoy! If you don't, remember it was for school. +D**

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"You called for me Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked, stepping into the principal's office. Just minutes earlier Tsunade asked for her over the speakers. Being the polite girl she was, she got out of her seat and calmly went to the office. 

Tsunade answered her, "Yes I did." She motioned for Sakura to sit down and continued. "I always hear that you find all the missing items in this school. Do you like to do this?" she asked. Sakura grinned.

"Yep! It's really fun to solve cases! Usually people just forget that what they're looking for is in their locker though." The principal smiled at Sakura's explanation. It was true that some people were stupid enough to do something like that. Sakura was smart though. She'd look over everything and be careful enough not to make a silly mistake. This would be a perfect case for her to solve.

"That's the attitude I like," Tsunade started, "I'm going to give you a case to solve. It will be explained to you by Tenten." Sakura wondered what Tenten had to do with the case, but it soon became clear. She obviously had lost something and wanted her help. The door opened and the principal said, "Sakura, meet Tenten."

There wasn't a need for introductions. Sakura knew all about Tenten. Who wouldn't? Tenten was the girl's softball and basketball team's star player. She has pinpoint accuracy which made her so great at softball pitching and she was the biggest tomboy in school. However, no one really noticed her tomboy appearance when they saw her eyes. They were a beautiful chocolate brown color that matched her hair perfectly. The only other piece of information Sakura knew was that Tenten lived with her two boy best friends, Neji and Rock Lee, ever since her parents died in grade school.

"Tenten, would you please tell Sakura exactly what happened?" Tsunade asked, snapping Sakura out of her thoughts. Tenten smiled.

"Okay," she agreed and began to tell her tale. "On Tuesday my friend and I were in the locker room after gym class and…"

_flashback_

Erika clicked the lock shut on her gym locker and turned to her friend, Ino. Ino was on the softball team as well but she wasn't a huge fan of it. The only reason Ino was on the team was that she had a talent for it and Tenten was on it.. Tenten gave Ino a smile and walked over to her, flip flops cracking each time they hit the floor.

Ino winced and covered her ears. "This is why I hate flip flops!" she yelled over the noise. When Tenten reached her, Ino slowly lowered her hands. The blonde couldn't take any chances with loud flip flops. "I can't wait until you get back to your locker and change into your basketball sneakers. Then I won't have to listen to that annoying snapping any more." She feigned a sigh of happiness. Tenten playfully punched her friend on the shoulder for being so overdramatic.

Both girls stepped out into the hallway and conversation started up once again. "So," Ino started, "are your shoes really cool? You only told me that Neji and Lee like them. If they like your shoes that means they must be cool."

"They are!" Tenten exclaimed, suddenly excited. "They're boy sneakers so that's probably why my friends like them. They also have red streaks on the sides to match the school's white and red sports jersey perfectly! Also, they have to be the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn." Her eyes sparkled. "My shoes are the best!"

Ino laughed. "I can't believe you're getting so excited over a pair of sneakers. It's good that your locker is straight ahead so you can see your _amazing_ shoes again." They both stopped and Tenten just about jumped for joy. She twisted the knob three times, pulled up the tab, and swung the door open. "Where are your shoes Tenten?" Ino asked, peeking over her friend's shoulder. After a few moments of silence from the girl in question, Ino asked, "Tenten, are you okay?"

"My shoes!"

_end flashback_

"That's about all of it," Tenten finished. Sakura nodded, letting the information sink in.

"Okay then. Can you bring me to your locker so I can check for clues?"

"Of course," Tenten agreed and turned to lead Sakura to the crime scene. Within a few minutes the duo had reached Tenten's locker and pink-haired Sakura was down to business.

"Open it," the detective-in-training commanded, pointing to one of the ivy green lockers. Tenten blinked in confusion at the harshness of Sakura's tone but opened her locker anyway. This was a case and no time would be wasted, especially when Sakura Haruno had a say in it! "Step aside, please." Sakura stepped into the spot Tenten had previously occupied and began her investigation. "So," she said while picking up a mountain of pencils on the locker floor, "tell me about anyone who knows your locker combination."

"Well there are my friends, Ino, Neji and Lee," Tenten listed, sub-consciously counting off her fingers. "What do you need to know about them?"

"At this point, nothing. I have no clue yet so there's no point in you telling me about all of them." Sakura tossed the pencils aside when she saw Tenten's name on every one of them. She moved to the locker door. Her eyes caught something that was almost camouflaged in the door. She carefully pried the smooth green cloth from its position in the door and backed away from the locker. She held it out to Tenten, silently knowing that it was the first clue of many to come. "Jersey," Sakura stated, referring to the cloth. "It must have ripped off when the thief shut the locker door. Careless if you ask me." Sakura thought for a second. "A waste of money too."

"Eagles!" Tenten exclaimed, pointing to the jersey piece. "That's part of a Philadelphia Eagles football jersey!" Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"How would you know that? Football isn't really your forte', is it?"

"Nope!" she admitted with a grin. "I know little to nothing abut football. The only thing I know is the team colors of the jerseys Neji wears." Sakura snapped into interrogator mode.

"When does Neji wear jerseys? What kinds does he have? Did he wear an Eagles jersey on Tuesday?" she asked, restraining herself to latch onto Tenten's shirt and shake her. The excitement was too much!

"In order: everyday, at least one for each team, and I don't know. The only class we have with each other is gym and he wasn't in class that day." Tenten smiled, looking very proud of herself for aiding in a case.

"Hmm… interesting." Sakura stored the information into her head for further use and turned back toward the locker. She rummaged around the large section of Tenten's locker for a couple of minutes. As two pairs of feet stopped behind her, Sakura kept her ears focused on the confrontation that was about to take place.

"Erika!" another tomboyish voice yelled..

"Yes Temari?" Tenten asked her softball rival in a fake polite voice. Temari growled.

"Agh! You're so annoying! And now you're even having the school's best detective looking for something as stupid as shoes!" The ranting girl noticed the faint scowl on Tenten's face. Her deep anger quickly turned into cockiness. She smirked. "Actually, I'm _glad_ that someone stole your stupid shoes." Sakura's eavesdropping was already paying off. She stored this new information into her head as well.

"T-Temari pl-please don't b-be mean Te- Tenten," another voice stuttered from behind Temari. Temari turned towards her sister, Hinata, and scolded her for sticking up for Tenten. Tenten smiled. She remembered Hinata always sticking around with her sister at softball parties. It looked like this hadn't changed and it seemed her shy nature didn't either. "Pl-please Temari, le-let's go," Hinata pleaded, not wanting her sister to be mean anymore. She didn't notice Sakura eyeing her sneakers strangely. Temari sighed.

"Okay Hinata." She could never resist the puppy dog eyes. The pathetic thing was, Hinata probably wasn't even trying to force on the puppy dog eyes. Temari rounded back on the brunette. "You're lucky this time, but I'll be back Tenten!" She warned and stomped off with Hinata tagging along behind her. Once they were out of earshot, Sakura spoke.

"Did you see the shy girl's shoes?" the pink haired girl suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Tenten replied smartly.

"I guess not. She had on red and white sneakers. Like yours, am I right? They had to be new because they were spotless." Sakura explained. Tenten had caught on by now.

"Hinata wouldn't do that!" she yelled at Sakura. "Didn't you hear her? She's as sweet as an angel!"

"I never said she stole your shoes," Sakura replied, being ever so rational. "I only got some information that may or may not be useful. Now calm down."

Tenten glared daggers at Sakura. She would not be treated like a two-year-old with a temper tantrum!

Sakura felt her patience wearing thin. "Tenten, are you calm enough for me to tell you another clue I found in your locker or would you like to make more false accusations?" That came like a hard slap to the face. Tenten looked down at her flip flops, ashamed at her previous actions.

"I'll listen." Darn! She _was_ sounding like a two-year-old!

"Good," Sakura said, putting a friendlier tone in her voice. She held up a long chain with a silver cross on the end. "Recognize this?" she asked.

Tenten blinked from confusion again. Then she smacked herself on the forehead. "Where have I seen that before?" she asked herself. After a few minutes of confused yelling she had a breakthrough. "Aha! I saw it at home before!"

Sakura sighed. All that effort for something so simple. It seems that the cross narrowed the suspects to her guy friends, Neji and Lee. Sakura took one more quick look through of the locker and when she found no more clues she turned towards the classrooms to call for a ride home. Tenten followed her example but went to basketball practice instead. Little did they know, the clue that would make everything clear was right under their noses.

Two days had followed after Sakura Haruno's clue search and the thief still hadn't been found. Sakura was on the brink of insanity. "Agh! This clue fits with this clue but that clue fits with that clue!" she cried, holding up random items up together. "This is so confusing! All I need is one more clue and I've got this case wrapped up!" At that moment, genius struck her. "That's it! I need a clue so I'll go back to the crime scene!" Sakura quickly scrambled out of her approved headquarters, the teachers lounge, and ran toward Tenten's locker.

She was so grateful that Tsunade gave her the locker combination. Tenten was just never able to come at the times she was needed with practice and all. Sakura flung open the locker door and stood there for a few seconds, studying. What could she have missed? She checked every nook and cranny of the large part of the locker so what did she overlook? Wait, the answer was right there. She never checked the small section on the top of Tenten's locker. Sakura was so excited over her new discovery that she went to search up there right away.

The first item she saw was a book. She picked it up for a better view of the locker section and saw a little folded piece of paper. Curiosity overtook her and Sakura picked the paper up. Her fingers carefully unfolded the paper and her eyes scanned the contents. "I figured it out!" she exclaimed. "I know who took Tenten's shoes!"

Sakura started her victory dance. Now that the case was over she could goof off as much as she wanted. Hold up. The shoes haven't been returned yet. The case still wasn't over! "Aw man!" the girl whined and ran off towards the girl's basketball practice in the gym.

She burst through the doors and was immediately met with the 'thump' of basketballs. Her eyes scanned the crowd for a flash of brown hair. "Hey Tenten!" she yelled over the noise. Or at least she tried to yell over the noise. Tenten didn't hear Sakura calling her name and continued the scrimmage. A large sigh escaped from the detective's mouth. Ooo this was going to be fun. She ran into the game and tried to reach Tenten. It was not a good idea, she realized, when someone accidentally ran into her and she tumbled to the floor. Instead of a sigh, like a few seconds ago, a groan of pain came from her crumpled form. Quickly shaking off the pain, Sakura jumped up and dodged the oncoming players. She had a newfound respect for basketball players. This was a rough game! "Tenten?" Sakura asked, surprised. The brunette was right next to her, still focused on the game.

"What?" she asked, not really knowing what she was saying.

"I know where your shoes are." Tenten froze when she heard those words.

"I'm taking a break!" she announced over the noise. This time the exclamation was actually heard. Tenten led Sakura towards the bleachers and both of them sat down. "Where are they?" she eagerly asked. Sakura smiled and pulled the paper out of her pocket. Tenten opened it and began to read it out loud. "Tenten, it's Neji. I'm borrowing your shoes for basketball practice. I'll give them back to you when I feel like it." Tenten had even more blinks of confusion. "It was my friends? And… he was just borrowing them? All this trouble for nothing? How could I not see my sneakers at home? I'm so confused!" Tenten cried. Sakura had answers for each of these questions.

"Yes, it was Neji and, if you reread the note, he was just borrowing them. There was no trouble. I loved solving this case. Lastly, your other friend is a troublemaker, am I right? He probably hid them to mess with your head." Sakura smirked. "Seems like it worked too."

"I will hurt him," Tenten muttered. "Scaring the daylights out of me and not even caring. Inconsiderate jerk." Sakura laughed.

"You're so dramatic Tenten!"

"Yeah I guess so," Tenten agreed before joining in on the laughter.

The biggest case in Sakura's middle school detective career was just a simple misunderstanding. It was a big bust. Well, she did get a great new friend and detective partner out of it. Tenten would need to know the ropes before she actually could solve a case on her own, with close supervision of course. When Sakura really thought about it, the case of the not-so-stolen shoes was the best opportunity that came her way.


End file.
